Holiday blues can occur during any holiday or vacation time, but it most commonly happens during the Christmas season when everyone else in the world seems to be celebrating and having a joyful time. The blues can result from high expectations for a perfect holiday, memories of wonderful past holidays, loved ones no longer present or the reality of the Christmas season. When one begins to slide into the blues, feelings of sadness, loneliness, depression and even anxiety can occur. You may even begin to experience symptoms of the holiday blues, including but not limited to: headaches, inability to sleep or sleeping too much, changes in appetite, agitation, anxiety, excessive or inappropriate feelings of guilt, and diminished ability to think clearly or concentrate. Further signs are decreased interest in activities that usually bring pleasure such as: food, sex, work, friends, hobbies, and entertainment. The holiday blues, although emotionally intense and upsetting, tend to be short-lived and subside once the holiday season is over and normal daily routines are resumed. The key to coping with the holiday blues is understanding what the blues are, what may be your triggers, knowing how to respond to these feelings and setting realistic expectations for the holiday season.
The factors that can contribute to the Holiday Blues: Unrealistic expectations: You may expect too much from the holidays. You may try to create the perfect celebration such as the one you didn’t get as a child or the one you hope to create for your children. Also, disappointment can occur when you don’t hear from friends and family or you don’t get the expensive gifts, tokens of affection, or proposals you were expecting.
Remembrances of past holidays: If you’re already feeling depressed or isolated due to memories of past times that weren’t so great, seeing others having a good time during the holidays can often make the situation worse.
Remembrances of loved ones lost: This may be the first holiday season without your spouse or a loved one that can cause great feelings of loneliness, sadness, or emptiness.
Family dynamics: This can create conflicts during the holidays when you are unable to be with your family members because they have made other plans or due to work, financial, time or travel restrictions. The holidays can be a time when strained or broken relationships, between various family members, can open old wounds due to unresolved conflicts. Problems can also occur with pressure to be with your family when you really want to spend time alone.
Extra financial burden: The holiday season can bring an extra financial burden because within a short period of time you are buying extra gifts, holiday clothing, attending social functions, or throwing holiday parties. This is particularly difficult if finances are normally already limited. There may be pressures from friends, family, and children to keep up with everyone else, such as buying the latest toys or games, having the most lights on the house, or to throw the best Christmas parties in town. Businesses, along with the help of the news media, have over commercialized the holidays which adds to this pressure. We are bombarded with images and commercials of the latest toys and games, as well as all the Christmas music, since before Thanksgiving. We are guilted into believing we need to have the hottest item toy for our children as a token of our affection for them.
Physical: Pressures of the holiday season can be physically taxing, particularly for those who’s health is already strained or compromised. Stress and fatigue can occur because of the extra time and energy demanded from shopping, cooking, baking, cleaning, socializing, entertaining house guests, wrapping presents, and sending Christmas Cards. Too much drink and food, especially of the sweet or fattening kind, during the holidays puts pressures on us to eat more than we need to which can also cause weight gain. This can be particularly frustrating for those trying to lose weight.
With some time, and following some suggestions, the symptoms of the holiday blues can often improve.
One can succumb to these blues or one can actively work to minimize their affects.
